Tag: Drinking

“We cannot consume more than 2 alcoholic drinks” the text message had said, which was fine by me. The idea was not to go out and get drunk, but to hang out and have a bit of a natter.

Indeed things started off quite well. We met up at 3.00pm in the hotel bar, and had a soft drink each. And if things had continued in the same fashion, then the night might have been very different. But at some point, near the end of my second cup of tea, a member of staff came by and deposited a wine menu on our table, and our meetup took quite a different turn.

﻿”Well we could perhaps have one, and see how it goes.”

I can’t remember which of us said it, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was still only late afternoon, within office hours, and a bit early to be drinking. However, a single glass of white wine would be okay.

Unfortunately it wasn’t just a single glass. The first led to the second, which then led to the third (during which another friend briefly joined us). We then moved location, and began work on the fourth, fifth… and at this point I lost count. A second mutual friend also showed up a some point for another visit, but they had the good sense to have just the one and go home again.

Anyway, so the evening ended with a rather surreal conversation with some strangers – one guy from Slovakia, another from Portugal, and a third from America. I wasn’t capable of proper conversation at this point, but it didn’t stop me trying – no doubt to the chagrin of the multi-cultural gathering I had invaded.

But all in all it was a pretty amazing night… what my lovely friends here in Dublin refer to as “deadly”. I just wish I could remember more of it.

There’s a friend of mine – a fellow lay clerk – who doesn’t touch a drop of alcohol during term time. He finds that the booze affects his voice too much. And on the odd occasion when he’s had a couple of pints on a Sunday night, he’s found that his voice has still been a bit scratchy at evensong on Wednesday. So he tends to stay teetotal all the time now.

But in the choral world, he’s pretty much the exception to the rule. Almost all the singers I know enjoy a drink; often quite a lot of drink. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with sharing a few medicinal pints after a big service, to help wind down and relax the vocal chords. But I know quite a few folk that take it much further than that. Some will drink before singing, and will even try to fit in a quick couple of pints during a 15 minute break before a service or concert.

Not that I’m trying to come across as angelic here. I’ll admit that I’ve sung a couple of dozen services in my time under the influence of alcohol. Indeed, last summer I turned up for one choir practice straight from the pub following a 7-hour drinking session (and sang like a badger’s fart, by all accounts). But I try not to make it a regular thing.

Generally, it’s not the best idea to drink before singing. A small amount of alcohol can sometimes help the voice. But it’s hard to judge where that ‘sweet spot’ is, and more often than not you can end up having too much. And while you may not realise it, your concentration is affected, and you start making mistakes.

Another friend of mine used to be partial to a few drinks for Sunday lunch, but he often didn’t know when to stop. And by the time evensong came around, despite his protestations, he was usually in no fit state to sing. Pieces he knew backwards were okay, because he would just sing them from memory. But his psalm and hymn singing would be all over the place, as he couldn’t focus on the words. The difference in his singing between the eucharist and evensong was shocking – so much so that people started to notice, and he was eventually asked not to attend on an evening.

Other friends have boasted in the past about how pissed they’ve been ahead of important concerts. Their justification for this being that, in the midst of a large choral society, it doesn’t matter if they’re singing badly. Which strikes me as a pretty selfish and inconsiderate attitude.

About this site

This is a personal blog written by Richard Bloomfield who lives in Dublin, Ireland. I write about stuff that interests me – technology, singing, cycling, and a myriad of other topics.

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